MGT Capital Investments Inc (OTCMKTS:MGTI): Here's Why The Mining Pool Is Important

This time last week, we took a look at MGT Capital Investments Inc. (OTCMKTS:MGTI) as part of this piece. Our angle was that – as things stand – the company remains under the radar, but this isn’t going to be the case for long. Specifically, the bringing of MGT into the mainstream is well underway, and being spearheaded by the company's CEO, John McAfee, by way of various keynote speaking engagements at leading security and technology events around the world.Now, McAfee has his denouncers. Many see him as an attention seeking individual out to try and pluck short term gain from unsuspecting investors, and the same people see his involvement in MGT as being purely a vehicle to that end.We've long argued to the counter, however, and in light of the company's most recent update, we maintain our stance. The thing to recognize is that the cyber security space is moving far quicker than the traditional incumbents can, and that as a result, the latter are getting left behind. The industry is no longer about Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) pushing out antivirus installation CDs with sales of laptops that incorporate their chips. It's not about Symantec Corporation (NASDAQ:SYMC) getting people to sign up for Norton subscriptions. Sure, these companies are still doing these things, but for the vast proportion of the industry, they are no longer relevant.Individuals, governments and companies of private industry need protection that keeps up with the sophistication of the risks, and that's what McAfee is building, and as we noted last time, pitching to the people that matter. The people that recognize this risk as present.One of the best examples of the necessity for change in the security space is the introduction of bitcoin, and more specifically, the blockchain, into mainstream technology. Again, this is something that the wider "mainstream" just isn’t aware of yet, but that doesn’t mean its not present. The financial and technological pioneer companies of the next decade will base their products on blockchain technology, and it's this crowd that MGT is ingratiating itself with.So what did the latest announcement tell us about the company's progress to this aim?Well, MGT just announced the completion of the development phase of its bitcoin mining pool. For those not familiar with the way these things work, it's basically a network of computing power that pools its resources to process transactions on the bitcoin blockchain. The processing of these transactions results in bitcoin payouts (hence the term, mining) and these payouts are shared between pool participants. These pools already exist, and some of them account for huge portions of total hash power, but this is the only company that offers a public exposure to the sector via this inroad to the technology.Our take on this is as follows: it's a big step for the company in getting its mining pool underway, and to that aim, it's a catalyst. It will draw attention to the company in the bitcoin and blockchain space, and here's where we see it really playing as important. Sure, a pool is nice, and offers the company a chance to contribute to the bitcoin ecosystem. What is nicer, however, is the way that the opening of this pool will help McAfee book keynotes at more and more cryptocurrency and financial technology events around the world, and in doing so, help the company get its best salesman in front of the people that matter.We're not saying this is a stock without risk. It's very risky, and a likely long term value play as opposed to a quick turnaround momentum stock. We're probably going to see dilution, and we may see a reverse split to facilitate a NASDAQ bid – if the exchange even let's the company submit for relisting. With that said, however, the opportunity is very real here, and as yet, not many have realized it.We will be updating our subscribers as soon as we know more. For the latest updates on MGTI, sign up below!Disclosure: We have no position in MGTI and have not been compensated for this article.